Here are the Club's offerings for the Cobra troops to go up against the Sky Patrol figures for the upcoming Convention set this year. Pretty cool looking in my opinion. Flaws? Yeah, probably. But who gives a shit besides butt-hurt "why you no" alleged fans? Oh yeah, maybe the Club could have used this part or that part. I've bitched about those assholes enough. I think they look pretty cool.

I was kinda' hoping to pick up the Hometown Heroes option for this set, but waited too long. Maybe there will be some sets left over later in the year. Time will tell.

Friday, March 18, 2016

Times have changed. Hasbro caught lightning in a bottle twice. I doubt they'll ever catch it again. GI Joe is a Hasbro creation, not like Star Wars or Marvel superheroes. It is their property to do with as they will. They have the marketing dollars to see if GI Joe is still a viable brand. In the words of Fred Meyer, Hasbro owes you nothing. They are a for-profit corporation. If GI Joe is not profitable beyond a rapidly aging bunch of fans, then so be it. In the current state of national affairs with a bunch of offended pantywaists everywhere, there doesn't seem to be much of a market for real heroes right now. It's a damn shame. Be content with what you have right now and scream loudly in support when GI Joe returns (it will one day), even if you personally don't like it. The BRAND represents the inherent hero in each member of the military and perhaps within each of us. Embrace the hero. Support the hero. Honor the hero.

I'm so damn tired of the entitlement vibe from collectors/fans. Damn, son, they're just freaking toys.

Friday, March 11, 2016

GI Joe fandom is awash in misery these days. Garments are being rended. Butthurt Cream sales are through the roof!The GI Joe brand is in a state of change right now. Apparently, Hasbro is ending their relationship with the Collector's Club at the end of 2016. This also involves the Transformers Collector's Club.As Fred from joebattlelines.com eloquently puts it:

It looks like there will be no GI Joe product available in 2016. Awww, poor kids... No new GI Joe toys. Oh wait, the largest market for GI Joe right now isn't kids, it's an aging group of grown up kids with disposable income and a sense of entitlement! Reminds me of the butthurt 12" Joe collectors pissed at getting nothing during the 50th Anniversary.Does this mean GI Joe is gone forever? Doubtful. Hasbro has plans for their own "Cinematic Universe" which would include GI Joe, Mask, Rom, Visionaries, and the Micronauts. Sounds like Hasbro isn't disposing of GI Joe. Sounds like they know they need to do something different to get GI Joe back where it belongs - in the hearts and hands of kids.OMG!! What if Hasbro reinvents GI Joe and there's no Duke! No Snake Eyes! No Cobra Commander and Destro! "Deth of teh line!1!!"I wish them much success and I hope the return of GI Joe is something very cool and something that I'm not really interested in. Sure, I'll probably buy a bit of whatever this new GI Joe becomes. Hell, I've still got a couple GI Joe: Extreme figures.I just hope the kids love it. Maybe one day, they'll grow up and be pissed-off, butthurt collectors in their own right.

Hasbro has always had a knack for reusing parts for new figures. Hell, the very first series back in 1982 shared body parts and head sculpts throughout many of the characters. Breaker, Clutch, and Rock n Roll. Grunt and Zap. Flash, Short Fuze and Hawk. Stalker and Scarlett... Oh wait... not really.The various sub teams that Hasbro came up with were largely repaints of existing figures. Sky Patrol was the same model and yet still a little different. The bodies were straight up repaints of previous figures, but all of the head sculpts were brand new. All of the characters were brand new even though the code name Airborne was a reuse.

I really liked the GI Joe Sky Patrol series when they came out back in 1991. The paint apps on each figure were extremely well done. From my limited understanding, Sky Patrol has been a fan request for the GI Joe Club for several years. Now in 2016, Sky Patrol gets a modern era update. Finally! "Finally" has a potential deeper meaning here, but that's another post.The Club has revealed the whole crew over the past week or so and they look pretty dang cool. I'm working on a post for the Cobra figures; I'll get to them soon.Are they all perfect? It depends on your definition of perfect. Are they exactly like their original figures, but only with modern bodies? Are they destroying my childhood? Is "butthurt" sweeping across the fandom? For some, yes. There are the a'holes who live to troll.Is the Club perfect? No. Who is? Hasbro has produced some crap figures. **cough, cough - blowtorch - cough, cough**As I've stated before somewhere in this silly blog, I have no idea how the Club goes about their design process. Personally, I would like to know. I think that would be a cool story to here. Yeah, sure, perhaps they could have gone with different part choices. Oh wait, I don't have a clue as to what Hasbro allows them to use! Oh yeah, the Club is subject to the availability of parts through Hasbro!Thankfully, there is a much larger contingent group of fans that seems to really like these figures. I think they are great! I've never had a JoeCon set and am sorely tempted to try for the Hometown Heroes option for this set.

Thursday, March 10, 2016

Anyone remember this comic? I remember this particular comic from way back in 1971. I don't recall where I got it, but I really enjoyed the comic. The whole post-apocalyptic vibe was probably one of my first influences into that genre of science fiction. I suppose Planet of the Apes may have been my first.The story revolved around a scientist father and his son putting themselves into suspended animation to ride out the devastation caused by a hyper-polluted Earth. They've also put into storage the Microbots that the dad had built.Centuries (maybe longer) have passed and the Earth has somewhat cleaned itself up. Mutant animals and regressed primitive humans have survived.A young boy stumbles upon the barely functioning ruined lab and awakens the dad and his son. Their names escape me right now. I've got scans of the pages and will do another post in the future specifically about the comic. Back to the story. At some point, the dad gets killed and the son and his new-found friend survive with the help of the reactivated Microbots. The Microbots are tough little suckers and very protective of both kids. Odd, kinda' silly names. Hooktor, Liftor, Krushor, and Griptor were just a few of the eight Microbots.At some point, way back then, my mom took me to Lionel Playworld and there on the shelves were Microbot toys! So cool!But did I get any? Nope. I don't know why I didn't. I suppose I was into something else at the time. I seem to recall that they were a bit too expensive at the time. They had metal bodies with plastic parts. The colorful lenses on their "heads" served as lenses for lasers which could be used as a tool or as a defensive weapon.

I would love to have at least one of the Microbots. I enjoyed the comic so much. I read and reread it over and over again.The cover was long gone, well before the comic itself finally disappeared, probably lost or trashed during a childhood move.I've seen them listed on eBay for quite a tidy sum - $70.00-$90.00 for each Microbot. Too expensive back then, too expensive now. Maybe one day, I'll take a chance and buy one. Anything out there in your nostalgia list? I know the Mattel Space:1999 Eagle is still high on my nostalgia list, but that's a post for another day.